Brown yogurt is a new type of yogurt with a burned flavor formed by the nonenzymatic Maillard reaction and silky smooth mouthfeel that contains high-quality nutrients and has become a new hotspot in the yogurt market. As Gansu province is one of the major livestock production areas and dairy processing bases in China, this region is bound to development the brown yogurt industry and seize market share. This article reviews the current status of the development of Gansu’s brown yogurt industry and existing problems. This review covers a summary of the history of the development of this industry and the problems encountered during the development process, the barriers to and driving forces for the research and development of brown yoghurt, the current status and challenges of brown yogurt processing, and the current trends and future prospects of brown yogurt.

Tea polyphenols, secondary metabolites found in green tea, are widely used in the food and medicinal industries because of their antioxidant and anti-cancer activity and preventive effect against cardiovascular diseases. The interaction of tea polyphenols with milk proteins can alter the structure of milk proteins and further affect the functional properties and bioavailability of dairy products. There have been widespread concerns about the binding of phenolic compounds to milk proteins due to the special structures of milk proteins. This review describes the mechanism of polyphenol-milk protein interaction, the factors influencing this interaction, the characteristics of reaction products, the methods used to analyze the mechanism, and the effects of this interaction on the functional properties and bioavailability of dairy products. Through this review, we aim to lay a theoretical basis for the development of new products based on the combination of tea polyphenols and milk proteins.